Here’s this month’s selection of links to items you may have missed.

Science, Technology, Natural World

Would you like to fly round the moon? If so, then NASA are giving away free flights for your name on their upcoming Artemis I mission.

Cosmologist Katie Mack talks about spotting and combating physics falsehoods online.

Researchers have found the huge and mysterious Hiawatha crater in Greenland to be 58 million years old.

Zoologist Lucy Cooke is waging war on Darwin’s prevailing view of the dominance of males and their benefit from promiscuity. Two articles, the first from the Guardian, the second from New Scientist [£££].

Palaeontologists have described a ten-limbed ancestor of modern octopuses, and named it after Joe Biden.

The largest ever family tree of humanity reveals our species’ history, where we originated and how we spread across the world. [£££]

The Eden Project in Cornwall have succeeded in getting their nutmeg tree to fruit for the first time since planting in 2001.

There’s a new drive to produce the red dye cochineal industrially without having to squash thousands of insects.

Health, Medicine

Here’s an interesting article about the work to identify which flu strains to put in this year’s vaccine – and some of the people who spend their lives trying to spot the emerging strains. [LONG READ]

And now another pair of articles, this time looking at the long-term, but haphazard, effect of Epstein-Barr virus, which is responsible for glandular fever. Again the first is from the Guardian, and the second from The Atlantic. [LONG READS]

Environment

One American academic has demonstrated that by just redesigning both homes and industrial processes it is possible to use almost no external power – and overall it is the cheapest solution! And yes, he has actually done it, and lives in the house.

An iconoclastic letter in New Scientist suggesting that as we’ve paved over much of our world we would do well to rip it up and plant trees instead. [£££]

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

1700 years ago a Roman boat sank in shallow waters just off Mallorca on the Spanish coast. Archaeologists are now retrieving the amazingly well preserved cargo.

In what shouldn’t be a surprise the teams restoring Notre Dame in Paris have found early tombs and a lead sarcophagus under the cathedral’s floor.

Medievalist Dr Eleanor Janega goes looking at non-written communication in Norwich.

And here’s Eleanor Janega again, this time looking at medieval attitudes to semen and female sexuality.

Despite our misogynistic view, there were female composers in the Renaissance. Now more of the ground-breaking work of Maddalena Casulana has been pieced together and performed.

Now not quite up to date … An expedition has found the surprisingly intact wreck of Ernest Shackleton’s ship Endurance off coast of Antarctica.

London

IanVisits takes an opportunity for a look inside London’s Ukrainian Cathedral.

IanVisits has also managed a sneak preview of London’s new Elizabeth line railway (aka. Crossrail).

Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs

Comedian David Baddiel talks about his life-long love of cats. [LONG READ]

Meanwhile a forensic pathologist wishes that a legacy of Covid lockdown is that we change the way we talk about death.

Japan may also need a new narrative as their so-called “killing stone” has split in two, releasing superstition and allegedly a nine-tailed fox. In two stories there’s the usual media-hyped look in the Guardian; however the Japanese think the media have the story wrong as Hiroko Yoda writes on Twitter.

And finally one of the great British train journeys which is high on my bucket list … the longest journey on a single train from Aberdeen to Penzance. I actually want to do Thurso/Wick to Penzance, with Kyle of Lochalsh, Fort William and Mallaig thrown in. I’m not holding my breath in the hope of ever doing it.

OK, so here we go with this month’s link to items you may have missed …

Science, Technology, Natural World

I don’t understand why it is that many people are afraid of spiders, because they’re much smarter than we realise.

Do you know what a wasp smells like? No, nor me. But scientists are now beginning to work it out. Oh and Vespula germanica used in tis study is one of the two common wasp specie in the UK.

While on Hymenoptera, apparently the old undisturbed woodland at Blenheim in Oxfordshire has colonies of heirs of the long lost British Honeybee. At first I found this so unlikely I had to check it wasn’t 1 April.

Researchers are now beginning to eavesdrop on embryonic/foetal animals to understand how they respond to sound. We’d known for some time that there was communication between between adults and embryos, but mostly not what it meant.

Health, Medicine

Apparently the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine has cut the rate of cervical cancer by around 87%.

In other research, medics are now trying to understand “immune amnesia”, where a disease (usually a virus) turns off or supresses the immune system even after recovery. Measles is especially good at this, and it could go some way to explaining why some recover especially slowly from some diseases (Covid and glandular fever come to mind). [LONG READ]

Sexuality

So here’s yet another look at ways to achieve great sex. Doesn’t it all come down to what works for you?

Environment

A new way of looking at climate change has been developed: a map showing where carbon needs to stay in nature.

As Jane Dunford in the Guardian finds out, beavers are having a significant impact on the environment where they’ve been reintroduced. Oh and just get their names!

Apparently Europe has lost almost 250 million House Sparrows in the last 40 years – that’s roughly the current UK population of sparrows every year for 40 years. Many other species are doing this badly as well, although some birds of prey are doing well.

Art, Literature, Language

The origins of “Transeurasian” languages appears to have been traced to traced to Neolithic millet farmers in NE China.

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

Glass is an everyday substance for us, but there’s still a puzzle over where it was first discovered.

As well as having high class glass, Ancient Egypt had sacred baboons although they are not indigenous to the area. Where and how were they acquired? [£££] [LONG READ]

There are a lot of large pits near Stonehenge, and it turns out they’re Neolithic and man-made, rather than natural.

Las Vegas is nothing new: the ancient Romans had a party town all their own but it is now submerged in the sea

Nearer at home Roman Britain is still producing a stream of archaeological discoveries.

The largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold coins to be found in England has been declared treasure at an inquest.

Meanwhile historians are revealing the secrets of the tomb of the Black Prince in Canterbury Cathedral

When an antiques dealer bought a dirty wooden bird little did he realise to has and important artefact from the marriage of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn.

Still with the Tudors, some unsuspected, and almost pristine wall paintings have been uncovered at Calverley Old Hall in Yorkshire.

So just why is it that the Gunpowder Plot has continued to be remembered and celebrated for over 400 years?

You think we (in the UK) have a corrupt government? It has nothing on the parliaments of the 18th century. [£££]

Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs

Why is body hair still a no-no, especially in the world of dance?

And now three items on modern witchcraft. First from a Scottish hedge-witch. Second on the myth of the Halloween Hag. Lastly on the witch as a modern feminist icon.

And stay right there as we’ll end on the esoteric … The sentimental celluloid fairy is essentially a product of Disney as fairies were originally rather malevolent.

Have a good Christmas everyone; the Fates permitting we’ll be back with the next edition to enliven those dreary days between Christmas and New Year.

Our usual round up of links to items you may have missed the first time.

Science, Technology, Natural World

Let’s start with a mind-boggling look at just how big solar flares can be. [LONG READ]

How and why have geologists have lost a billion years from their records. [LONG READ]

Kew Gardens is one of my favourite places and now they’re in the record books for having the largest plant collection at a single site.

Now this is weird. If you thought luminescent platypuses were odd, then how about wasps’ nests that glow green under ultraviolet light.

Ancient Egyptian mummified cats are helping to unravel the mysteries of ancient textile dyes.

On the problems of people who take aliens seriously.

An interesting item on the work of the detectives untangling fraud and counterfeiting in the global supply chains. [LONG READ]

Health, Medicine

Lingering post-illness symptoms like long Covid are likely to be much more common than we think. I certainly had symptoms which lingered for many years after I had glandular fever.

Environment

There’s a 30-year project planned to rewild a huge area of the Scottish Highlands.

This has to be a candidate for headline of the year: “Old Irish Goats return to County Dublin to protect hills from wildfires”. Who knew that Old Irish Goats were a thing?

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

Researchers excavating a cave in Gibraltar have found a sealed chamber which may contain undisturbed relics of Neanderthals.

Work on dating some ancient footprints in New Mexico suggests they’re the oldest evidence of humans in the Americas.

Experts in southern France are doing a giant jigsaw puzzle to piece together the remains of a Roman fresco.

This is an old piece in which our favourite medievalist, Dr Eleanor Janega, points out that there is no such thing as the “Dark Ages”.

Eleanor Janega again examines ancient ideas on semen retention.

More genetic studies are revealing how humans island-hopped to settle remote Pacific, taking their statues styles with them.

London

“Downing Street was first built in 1680 by Sir George Downing: an unscrupulous, brutal, and miserly man – which is rather fitting, given that the street which bears his name has been the home to so many politicians.”
Historic London looks at the “menagerie” of Downing Street.

Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs

A look at how nihilism (at its simplest, a declaration that life is meaningless) can help make you happier, even in these troubled times. Hmmm – Yeah – Maybe.

An interesting theory on what ancient money can tell us about the future of computers. [£££££]

It keeps being tried, and succeeding, but always ignores it. A look at the case for a shorter working week. [LONG READ]

Photographer Eric Kim looks at 12 lessons he learnt from the work of Japanese cult street-photographer Nobuyoshi Araki.

People

It’s surely very British that 30 after his death the lone figure of Alfred Wainwright is still a cult figure looming large over the Lake District. [LONG READ]

Shock, Horror, Humour, Wow!

Finally, earlier this month it was time for the 2021 Ig Nobel awards, which included an award for the investigation which found sex can relieve nasal congestion.

This month we have a well packed collection of links to items you may have missed the first time, so let’s get in …

Science, Technology, Natural World

You know those experiments physicists are always doing to spot invisible subatomic particles? Here’s an item on how they do it. [LONG READ]

One scientist looks at five reasons why sorting out evidence for UFOs is so scientifically challenging. [£££££]

The Gulf Stream is an important factor in controlling the Northern Hemisphere’s climate, but scientists have now seen warning signs that it is about to collapse.

They’re dastardly cunning and to cap it all it seems squirrels use parkour tricks when leaping from branch to branch.

The genomes of living animals are littered with DNA from long-extinct relatives, which is beginning to provide information on evolution, extinctions, and maybe even solutions to current agricultural problems. [LONG READ]

While we’re looking for clues, two studies have successfully detected DNA of wildlife in the air around us. This could become a valuable new way to detect rare wildlife in hostile environments.

Just what genetic tricks do the longest-lived animals need to drive their longevity? [LONG READ]

Health, Medicine

One young woman tells us about something most of us have never heard of: pelvic congestion syndrome. [LONG READ]

Sexuality

Our favourite medieval historian tells us about the power of pushing back against the marginalisation of sex workers – then and now.

Environment

Have you ever seen a ghost-pond? If not Norfolk apparently has loads of them, and they’re being restored to uncover a treasure trove of long-lost plants.

The UK government has given a rather (too?) cautious welcome to beavers and indicated they’ll receive legal protection.

Birds of prey are declining in the UK, but one farmer is trying to lure them back by laying out dinners of roadkill etc. on raised “sky tables”.

Oh dear! The Law of Unintended Consequences strikes again. They may produce better light for us (compared with the old sodium lamps) but it seems that LED streetlights are causing significant declines in moth numbers in England.

So just how hard is it to recycle a jumbo jet?

History, Archaeology, Anthropology

Long, long ago during the ice-ages, when sea level was much lower, the North Sea was an inhabitable oasis connecting the British Isles to mainland Europe. Despite being overwhelmed this so-called “Doggerland” is giving up its secrets due to fishing and dredging.

So how did the Mayans survive in the extreme monsoon climate of Meso-America? They had some really surprising technology!

Archaeologists in Finland have revealed the puzzling burial of an Iron Age leader. However the grave goods don’t entirely fit with the normal expectation of such leaders being male, and the suggestion is that this individual was in some way non-binary.

Why did Harold Godwinson lose the Battle of Hastings? Because his elder brother Swegen died some years earlier leaving the way open for Harold to seize the kingdom. [LONG READ]

700 years before McDonald’s, London’s first recorded takeaway was selling venison, pheasants and boiled meat.

Here we go again! The Voynich manuscript has resolutely refused to give up its secrets despite years of effort by researchers. Now another is hoping that the lock can be cracked using linguistic statistical methods.

Dr Eleanor Janega, our favourite medieval historian, reappears in her rightful place with two articles about medieval summers: “On Leisure in August” and “On Bad Summers“. [BOTH LONG READS]

Food, Drink

Anyone interested in beer, might be staggered to know that German chemists have identified over 7,700 different chemical formulas, each with as many as 25 different molecular structures, in a range of 400 beers.

Lifestyle, Personal Development, Beliefs

Well colour me black and blue! It turns out that getting a tattoo can be a powerful means of reclaiming your body and processing grief or trauma – Oh, and getting decorated. Of course it is; like piercing it is a rite of passage.

Shock, Horror, Humour, Wow!

And finally I leave you with this thought: